Exploration

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Graphite sketch in progress

Graphite sketch in progress

I have never been keen on working on landscapes. But, this sketch changed my mind a bit. I like the perspective…from way down low. I really like the charm of this perspective–but it might just be the mushroom! The Facebook Art Journal group I belong to suggests a little fairy creature under the mushroom is begging to be added. This scares me! I am going to try it, but I don’t do figures and faces so that adds some struggle for me! And, what to do, how to do it! I am looking at resource material and considering how this might be accomplished. It won’t happen fast though. I do think that this little sketch has shown me that I can enjoy a landscape drawing or painting, I just need to make the composition dramatic in some way in order to enjoy it. I will work on finding interesting and dramatic perspectives for landscapes. And, I will broaden my mind and think about magical creatures too!

We had a particularly beautiful weekend here on the coast of Maine. Really more like August weather. John and I took advantage of the sun and warmth, took Big dog and headed out on the boat to Marshall Island for an overnight camping trip. It was awesome. We had a nice hike on the island in the morning and then scooted over to Wheat Island for some shelling. It was especially nice for Big who is always on leash to be able to run around free! He had a great time.

Marshall Island Memories: encaustic, collage on stone

Marshall Island Memories: encaustic, collage on stone

 

Encaustic Experiments

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Graphite, tissue, encaustic

Graphite, tissue, encaustic

I decided to try and draw on tissue and incorporate that over the stone with encaustic. I had a failure, you just can’t overwork it. But, the first one I did actually turned out the way I wanted. I was surprised that I could do the drawing on tissue without any tearing and that the graphite didn’t smear! So, I think this will work for future pieces.

oil pastel and encaustic

oil pastel and encaustic

I am liking using the encaustic and oil pastels together. The impressionistic look is nice and it keeps me working loose. I think I might need to embrace the fact that I do best working quickly….which might make the encaustic a good fit for me. If I take to long on anything it seems to just get overworked and to tied tight!

casein, colored pencil and encaustic

casein, colored pencil and encaustic

This last piece I did as a lark, casein painting with colored pencil on stone. I actually worked on this in the vertical, but I like it best in the horizontal.

Now I need to get back to my lobster claw and mussel shell casein painting on panel.

New Substrate

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photo encaustic: image printed on light pink tissue

photo encaustic: image printed on light pink tissue

While looking for something to work on for encaustic that would be easy to deal with in terms of finishing and ready to hang I came across cradled birch panel. This seems like it might be perfect for a range of work. Today I worked on some photo encaustic and that turned out pretty well. I think that these will also work for casein and even colored pencil with the right ground. The dandelions seem to be popular–so I am going to work on a bunch of these. I have had several friends respond well to these, so I will be giving some away. This will help me perfect techniques and motivate me to feel good about doing some “repeats”. The nice thing about the encaustic is that each one turns out a little different, so they are all unique.

photo encaustic on stone

photo encaustic on stone

Last weekend we took the boat to Isle Au Haut. It was a beautiful day for a hike and such a great spot to visit. I collected stones (some small, some large enough for encaustic) and a few shells. I found one shell that was absolutely fabulous! A rare find up on the cliffs overlooking the water.  I will post that soon.

crabclawred

Looking forward to some time off the day job to pursue art projects.

 

Stone

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musselonstone

Stone is the substrate winner for encaustic! It really loves the wax. I think that the over the winter drawing has really helped me loosen up. I feel so much more at ease laying in work with paint. I am going to try and stick with the shell idea for as long as I can. Now that the shed is up and running I can pick and choose what subject matter is good for encaustic when the inspiration hits me. This shell just fit right onto this stone. I would like to do some with several shells, deeper shadows and really vibrant colors. The encaustic on stone really enhances the colored pencil against the casein–I need to learn to plan for this and take advantage of it.

This is approximately 3″ x 5″, casein underpainting with colored pencil, graphite and encaustic.

Sea Urchin

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seaurchinencaustic

Encaustic paint, photo on stone, with coral found on Pond Island in Maine

About 2″ x 3 1/2″

I wanted to see how a photograph would do on stone. I love working on the stone in encaustic. Unlike other substrates, the stone really absorbs the heat and stays hot for quite awhile. Because of that, you get a little more time with the paint. The wax stayed nice and hot…but not liquid while I placed the bits of coral around the image. I will try some more of these. The big problem, just like any substrate that you are adding photos to, is the air pocket issue. I like the idea of incorporating found objects.